Magazine-gun



(No Model.)

L. L. HEPBURN.

/ MAGAZINE GUN.

No. 400,679. n I PatentedApLZ, 1889.

f/q-f- 1f v f "f Inni,

Inventor.'

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVIS L. I-IEPBURN, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,

vMAerizlNia-Gun.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.|400,679, dated April 21:, 1889. Application led January 12, 1889 Serial No. 296,129. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: .Be it known that I, LEWIS L. HEPBURN, a citizen of the United' .Stat-es, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State detached. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of thek carrier and a portion of rits operating-lever. Figs. 4 and 6 are side elevations 'of the carrier with its operating dog or rocker and lever, the position of the parts being reversed from 'that shown in Fig. 1-to more clearly illustrate their mode of operation.v Fig. 5 is a longitudinal transverse section on the line w w of Fig. 1 to A show the extractor and ejector, and Fig. 7 is asimilar sectional view to show how the rear en d of the barrel is made to project into the cavity within thereceiver and the cut in its lower Wall.

This is an improvement'on the gun for which Patent No. 371,455 was granted to me 0ctober.11, 1887, the reciprocating breechblock B and its locking-block Dbeing constructed and arranged to be operated by the lever L L', the same as in that case, and which therefore need not be specially described in this case.

Instead of making the receiver or frame A with a slot or opening at the top, as in the former gun, and as is customary in this class of guns, l nowA make it 'in the side, as shown at l, Fig. 3, the breech-block, when at its fo1j' `ward position, as it must he whentho gun is that rain, snow, -dze.,are less likely to get into the receiver, the cartridge-shell is thrown out laterally and awayfrom the person holding the gun, and, finally, in case a cartridge-head should burst, the face is better protected from injury.

. The next feature of my invention consists in extending the rear end of the barrel C farther back,`so it shall enter the cavity in the receiver, as shown in Figs.' 1, 2, and 7. y The .j lower wall of this projectiugportion of the barrel is cut away, as shown at Figs. 2 and 7, to permit the front end of the' carrier E to pass, as otherwise it would be stopped at that point and would not raise the cartridge high enough :to enter the bore of the barrel. As 'the front end of the cartridge when raised passes up through this cut on the lower side bof the bar-rel, it will bel held between the side walls of the projecting end, andwill thus be prevented from rolling laterally off of the carrier, and will also be guided Liuto the barrel with ease and certainty.- r

The carrier E is pivoted at its rear end in essentially the same position as before, but is differently constructed and operated. As shown in Figs. '1, 4, and 6, its front portion on which the cartridge rests is made inthe form of a simple fiat finger or plateofawidth equal, or nearly so, to the width of the cavity between the side walls of the receiver, and with of the cartridge. rests when it is forced out of the magazine onto the carrier. As shown in Fig. 3, the rear portion of the carrier E is cut away along one side to permit the lever-arm L to play freely to and froLto move the breechblock B. The front portion of the carrier .is also'cut away on its upper surface, as shown atan, Fig. 3, this out heilig inclined both vcrtically and laterally, thereby leaving an inclined or slanting wall n at the left-hand side el' th?l cut, and also giving an 'inclined surface to the part r. ',lhis is doneto enable the cartridges tov be fed or pushed through the opening in the'side of the receiver into the magazine, and also to permit the carrier out, the ini-.linedposition of the carrier causingthe edge ol' its front portion to come partially opposite the lowei` edge oi said opening. The opening in the receiver for the insertion a vertical shoulder, r, against which the'head' to rise slightly before the cartridge is fully IOO ofthe cartridges and its spring-door, being such as is common in this class of guns, is not shown. The carrier E in rear of its shoulder fr is made much thicker vertically, and has a slot cut through it transversely, in which is pivoted a peculiarly-constructed dog or rocker,

o', as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the form of laterallyprojecting shoulder, b, and at its front end with another shoulder, c, and it is so pivoted in the slot that when it lies parallel with the body of the carrier these -two shoulders both project laterally beyond the vedge of the carrier, where. the latter is cut away for' the movement to and fro of tle lever-arm L', as clearly shown' in Fig. 3.

There is sufficient space between theright-v hand side of the carrier and the' adjoining wall of the receiver to permit the front end of the rocker o to swing back far enough to permit the lever 'L' to pass freely by 'the `4shoulder c, as shownby dotted lines in Fig.

3, the. roeker being provided with alip, h, atits front end, which serves as a stop to limit' its movement in the opposite direction. The rear shoulder, b, of the rocker is provided with a fiat face,4 against which vthe rear edge of lever L' strikes when thrown back, thereby swinging the rocker into' position parallelv .with the carrier. The front shoulder or stud, 4

c, is inclined or beveled on its frontside, so that if 'it should not be back out of the Way when the' lever is moved backward the lever, acting on this incline, will shove it back out of the way of the lever. Its rear face is slightly rounded to enable it tov slide' freely up the inclined face of the lever, and is slightly undercut, seas to engage with the beveled face m of vthe lever and prevent it from slipping ofi:` or disengaging from the lever until the'carrier has been raised to the proper height.

The beveled edge mof the lever is shown in Figs. 4 and G, the position of the parts being reversed in these figures for that purpose. A Just above the termination of the beveled portion it is made flat, and on the opposite side it is cut away or beveled in the opposite direction, as shown at t, Fig. 1. struction is that when the parts are secured i'n position, as shown' in Fig. 1, theA backward movement of the lever L' tothe position 'sh'own by the dotted lines in Fig. l and in ful'lA lines in Fig. 6 brings the -rear edge of the lever in contact with the shoulder b,- and thereby swings the rocker into position parlallel with vthe carrier, thus bringing the front stud, c, out in front of the lever L', as shown in Fig. 6, when as thelever is moved forward' its beveled edge m engages against the stud The result of this con'- c of the rocker o, and, owing to the inclined position of the lever, raises the carrier as the lever advances, the stud c sliding up along the face of the lever,'until it comes opposite the beveled portion t on the side of the lever next to the rocker, when the lever is disengagedfrom the stud c by means of said in-f' rear edge striking against the stud b throwsv the rocker o intoposition ready for again raising the carrier as the lever-arm is again moved forward'.

l By examining. Fig. 1 it will be seen that there is an eecentric shoulder, w, formed on the side of the lever-arm L', where it will bear against the under side of theear'rier E when the latter is down, or that will come in; contact with the carrier as the lever is. moved to open the breech and 'slightly raise thecarrier, the object of which. is to raise the front end of the carrier justy enough to prevent a .sec-

ond cartridge from passing out of the maga- A zine, theiirst one having already moved outv onto the carrier far enough to permit the front end of the carri-er tovfrisesuieiently to be in line with the lower edge of vthe head of the next cartridge. The carrier is provided with the usual lip' on its under side, which, while the carrier is elevated, also covers the upper 'portion of the mouth A of the magazine, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and thereby prevents the cartridges from coming out of the magazine while the carrier is raised.

The extractor-hook e is .made with two spring-arms, as shown in Fig. 5, and is set in a longitudinal recess or hole bored inthe front end of the breech-block B, in which it is secured at its' rear endby a pin Ain such a manner as to avail of the elastieityof both of its arms, thereby securing avery elastic ex tractor, which .is far less liable to break, e'specially when-the metal'is aieeted by 'extreme cold, and at the same time enabling the breech-block to be made solid on its exte rior, and rendering the extractor less liable to be rendered inoperative by particles of sand or dirt getting lunder it, as is apt to be the case when a flat spring-hook is secured in a groove on the exterior face of the breechblock. Y t

In order to expel the empty shell through the side opening, I, of the receiver as it is drawn out of the chamber, I secure in a groove inthe opposite` wall of the receiver a flatspring ejector-,f2 as shown in Fig. 5. This, asshown, 1s provided near its frontend with' a right angle to its body and ,serves as a stop against which 'the shell strikes as it is 'drawn back, the rear face 'of this projection being IOO IIO

. proj ection, t', the front face of which stands ata .curacy and certainty;A

400,679 l I s inclined to ena-ble the breech-block to readily pass by it when moved forward. A small groove is cut in tne side of the breech-block,

in which the projection rests when the lbreechblock is shoved forward. It follows that when the breech-block is given a quick movement back the shell is stopped by coming in contact with the shoulder of the ejector, and as the latter is. released from the pressure of the breechblock the instant the front end ot' the latter passes the projection i the ejector springs forward and throws the shell out through the opening l with the greatest ac- By these several improvementsl am enahled to .produce a gun having but few parts, working with efeiency,and that is safer in case of defective cartridges.

I am aware that guns have before been made with a receiverhaving its top closed,

and with an opening in its side, and also that a patent has been granted showing such a construction, and also a plate attached to the brcecl1l lock by a pin and arranged to* slide in grooves in the walls of said opening, and l disclaim such construction or arrangement of devices; but p i y W hat l do claim `is-\ h l. The combination, in a gun,of the receiver A, havnga solid or unbroken wall at its top,

with the longitudinal opening l in its side, and the reciprocating breechblock B,`of the proper form transversely yto fill the cavity between the walls of the receiver and the opening l in its side, substantially as shown and described.

vforth.

.and for' the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with the pivoted carrier E, the pivoted lever L, provided with4 an eccentric, w, adapted to come in contact with the' under side of the carrier as the lever is moved to open the breech, and elevate the front end ot the carrier to a point just above the' lower Wall of the magazine-tube, and thereby prevent the cartridge from lpremiarv turely passing out of the magazine, as set' 5. The flat-spring ejector f, provided with theprojeetion 11,' said .projection being provided with a right-angled face at its front and an inclined 0r beveled face at its rear side, the same being secu red in a recess. formed in the inner-wall of the receiver, substantially as shown and-described.

ln 'witness whereof I hereunto set my hand in thepresence of two witnesses.

LEWIS L. HEPBURN.

Witn ceses:

I SAAC WoLFE, UARLETON E. I-IoADLnY. 

